New York City to make 20% of parking spaces ready for electric car charging over next decade

You know that we're not the biggest fans of individual cars in very dense cities like New York. Walking, biking, and transit are better ideas there, unlike in less densely populated places where a car might not be so optional. But as long as there are lots of cars and parkings in NYC, they might as well be electrified as much as possible because that provides real benefits with regards to greenhouse gas emissions and local air quality.

So it's good to learn that a new city law will push things in that direction. The goal is to make 20% of the city's parkings "plug-in ready" over about the next decade.

The law, as codified in Intro. 1176, will require new off-street parking facilities--such as garages and surface lots--to build in sufficient electrical capacity to accommodate charging stations for 20 percent of their spaces. The mandate also applies to existing structures enlarged to the point that they require increased electrical service.

In addition, the law sets standards for the electrical hardware, requiring a minimum of 3.1 kilowatts of capacity for electric-car charging. (source)

This law should create about 10,000 plug-in ready parking spots, with around 5,000 of those over the next 7 years. NYC only has 200 electric-car charging stations at the moment.

And since we're moving in that direction anyway, making sure that chargers are built-in new parkings could save money, since it's easier to build along with everything else rather than retrofit the electrical system afterwards.

The example set by New York City should be followed by other cities. Priority should be put on mass transit and bike infrastructure, but the car infrastructure should definite get with the times and be future-proof by accommodating plug-in vehicles.